[𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪.] - 𝗔𝗸𝗮𝗹𝗶 𝘅 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

[4.] 𓆛 A Chaste Therapy Session

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𓆟. ° .• .𓆝 .• ° . 𓆟 . ° .• .𓆞

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November 4

5:46 PM

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Akali dropped her gear bag on the front porch and fished in her Speedo bag for her keys.

She said she'd visit Yoko after practice. She slept at the dorm for the most part, but she came home frequently just so she's not ever left by herself for too long.

She opened it to hear crying.

Akali dropped her other bag faster than she'd ever left the starting block, her heart sinking to the sound. Her back was wet due to the water from her damp hair seeping through her shirt. Her stormed inside to see her mother sobbing into a tissue at the dining table.

No. No, no, no—

One of the last times she saw her like that, she was told Yoko had a tumor.

Her heart pounded.

"Mom," she called, kneeling by her and putting her hands on her mother's thigh. "Mom."

This couldn't be happening again. It couldn't, they couldn't do this again—the hospital visits, that sick smell, her frail, still body—

"It's fine," she cried, sniffing hard and wiping her tears. Her left hand covered Akali's two. "It's okay. It's fine. Don't worry."

But the damage was done. Akali's already freaked out, and now she's got to sit on the ground with her mother.

She's busy slowing down her heart rate while her mom took deep breaths. If it was not about Yoko, then her parents were probably fighting again.

"Did he hit you?" She asked quietly.

"What?" She asked, turning to face Akali with shock written over her bloodshot eyes. "No. No, Akali. Your father's a good man. He wouldn't do that."

The surprise painted on her face told Akali she's not lying.

Akali bit her lip as she stared forward. The door's still open, and all her stuff's in a pile on the porch.

She stood up slowly, retrieving her bags and keys and dropping them all inside the threshold before she shut the door.

Her mom said that—said her dad's a good man—but, Akali was in touch with how men work. And as someone who was under no legal contract to love her father, she didn't think she and her mother saw the same family member.

"Why are you crying, mom?" Akali asked. It made her scared.

Like she's done something wrong. She's working hard. She's doing the best she can—being the best daughter she could be at twenty—yet her mother's still not happy.